Saturday, April 30, 2011

Yesterday I did a short blog about a new app available on the iTunes store called Office Jerk. I found it to be a funny iPhone App right from my first play (or throw to be exact)! With all the excitement of Will & Kate's Royal Wedding, I didn't have time to check back and see how the Office Jerk Application was doing. It is FREE by the way.

I was amazed to find it in the top 25 of Free Apps on iTunes!!! I knew the game had potential but this is quite an achievement in such a short time. I'll do some digging and try and find out how sales are going for premium items - I don't want to give much away there but apparently the dynamite is popular - see screenshot below.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Well it looks like FRING got there first. You can now do Group Video calls on your iPhone or Android, with up to four friends being displayed on one video screen. You can bet there are some other large companies that would love to have had this... or might make a try for "acquiring" the company.

One of the big words on this fantastic app is FREE! First off, the app itself is free. The four way video conference calling is free. With Fring you can make calls to other Frings users worldwide, for free. Also, live chat is... free!

Fring is a freemium product - meaning the app is free but there are some paid add-on features available. The rates for using Fring to make worldwide calls is very competitive! (but again, free to other Fring users)

Use this app on your iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Android or Nokia device!

Yes you read correctly. No apples falling from the proverbial tree in this business story. Apple has surpassed Microsoft in sales revenues and profits!

Microsoft and Apple reported revenues of $16.5B and $24.5B, and profits of $5.23B and $5.99B, respectively. Although Apple's numbers are larger than Microsoft's, the latter did have a higher profit margin. Apple's 50% more revenue over Microsoft, generated only 14.5% extra profit!

An economist might also suggest looking at the trend of revenues and profits, from the chart above, and further suggest that some basic extrapolation indicates Apple is more skybound than Microsoft and thus a better financial investment.

Another interesting item to note, if you care about investment returns, is the fact that Microsoft's stock has a lower PEI (price earnings ratio) compared to Apple's stock - 11.06% versus 16.68%. Just keep in mind this is history we are looking at. You must always look at what a company is doing NOW, and what they have for TOMORROW!

This App if FUNNY! I think this could be the next best office app ever. Haven't you ever wanted to throw something at a coworker??? I have - plenty of times. Well here's your chance with Office Jerk!

Throw a crumpled up piece of paper, an eraser or a pencil at the geek working on the computer and earn points.

The game is FREE. If you feel the need to throw some heavier objects you can purchase some inexpensive value packs where you will find staplers, mugs and even a pie. There are a few other funny objects but I'll leave those to the players to discover!

I don't want to give away any secrets but you can also throw the items at things other than the geek, such as the computer. I like a game with a few hidden cookies!

This is a fun little app that definitely scores highly on the Kick Butt rating!!!

So I wonder what will become of all those iPhone apps that were made specifically for Will and Kate's wedding? Most likely the iTunes store won't be selling nearly as many of them as they were the last few weeks. Will there be any new ones now that the wedding is done, and was such a successful event?

As all the excitement was starting for the royal wedding, Research in Motion was having a stroke. Specifically a downstroke! RIM's shares freefell 12% in Frankfurt after cutting it's profit outlook. It's seems most consumers are spending their money on Apple or Google's Android products!

The chart above is RIM's stock on the Canadian stock exchange Friday morning. The Ontario, Canada company is having trouble keeping even Canadian analysts optimistic about the stock, as a number of them have downgraded their outlook on the company.

I think this is a better graphical explanation of what is happening to the stock. Let me explain: Mr shareholder is walking down the street with his RIM shares in his pocket and just minding his own business... well I think you get the idea!

Yes I am getting a fever from the wedding due to start in just over 13 hours! If I had a sponsor I'd suggest taking Advil, Motrin or Tylonol... but I don't - so just take something!

In actuality, it will be a joyous event and watched worldwide. There is no lack of methods by which you may prepare, watch or just dive right into everything royal and specifically Will and Kate's wedding. The iTunes store has a plethora of iPhone and iPad apps dedicated to the royal wedding and everything associated with it. Some are even cartoon and games versions.

I even found a countdown until the wedding starts. Not sure what happens when it reaches the time of 0:00:00

There will be many eyes on Westminster Abbey starting at 10:00 AM, April 29th, 2011. I remember watching Charles and Diana's wedding almost 30 years ago. We didn't have iPhones and iPads or the internet to watch the wedding but many eyes sat in front of televisions to watch.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I've been playing Big Fat Simulation's latest release, Radar Chaos, and thought I'd share a few unique features this game has over any other ATC (air traffic control) game out there yet!

1. The Control Interface is simple to understand and use. Slow & Fast and Up & Down are self explanatory. The heading uses the 360 degree compass, whereas 360 is North, 090 is East, 180 is South and 270 is West. Just drag the pointer in the direction you want the plane to fly, and even if you don't understand the compass points, you can still play the game.

2. Snitch Detector: Like some air traffic control radars have in real life, this game detects when two or more aircraft get to close. If there is less than 1,000 feet, or less than 3 miles lateral separation, you lose points - better than losing your job! It even draws a line when they get close showing the actually distance in tenths of a mile.

In this example the aircraft are 600' and 4.3 miles apart!

3. Mountains: The Mountains Level is my favorite so far. The mountains are brown (easy to recognize) and even have an altitude symbol beside them. If you place an aircraft too low in the mountains you get a comment, such as "hey, what are those billy goats doing up here?" or something like that!

4. Music: I actually like the music that plays with the game. Adds an element of suspense. I'm glad they did away with the voices of the pilots like they had in their original games, which are still available. The sounds associated with crashes, near misses etc... are appropriate and made me jump the first time I heard one. Avoid this!

5. Score: I'll be honest here, I need some practice at this because this is one area where I need to improve. The game shows how well a player does in a few ways. There is an airline satisfaction meter that gives a great visual representation of how well you are doing. There is also a status based on experience level - I've reached the mighty "instructor" level now. Most importantly, the game shows a player what their salary would be as an air traffic controller based on how well they do. Airplanes crashing into mountains or each other negatively affects this score.

With 10 levels, Radar Chaos is a great game that you will never get bored with. Have fun with it, and just don't beat my Kick Butt score!!!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Now this is exciting news.... maybe not as highly rated as the incredible news about the iPhone 4 now being available in white, check out my extensive review here, but TweetDeck has just released version 2.0 for the iPhone and iPad. The enhancements are significant.

The coding has literally been rebuilt from scratch. Instead of reworking and building onto something old, they did a rebuilt. They have the technology. They have the capability to make it better than it was before. Better, stronger, faster - just like the 6 million dollar man.

TweetDeck's interface with Facebook and Twitter will make this a very competitive social application that you can run on your Apple product.

The iPad 2 is still new right? Well it hasn't been out long and already there are products being unveiled that will compete directly with it. Some are inferior and some, in the eyes of Apple, are downright scary - because they are so darn competitive!

The Sony S1 and S2, which both make use of Google's Android 3.0 Honeycomb OS, might be two of the best products being released that will compete directly against Apple's products. The S1, with it's 9.4 inch screen and 3G and WiFi capability will look and act most like the iPad 2, but it also features an infra-red port, making the Sony Playstation connection possible.

The S2 is a different tablet altogether, featuring two folding 5.5 inch screens. This clamshell tablet folds small enough to fit into a jacket pocket!!!

Monday, April 25, 2011

I found another interesting tidbit of information released at Apple's Q2 conference call. Tim Cook, Apple's COO, made reference to China being their fastest growing market. Sales grew by almost 250%, compared to the same period last year, and the first fiscal half reached sales of almost $5 Billion ($5,000,000,000).

Also, Apple's iPhone accounts for about 8% of China's 850M (850,000,000) strong mobile customer base. Even though companies such as Motorola, Nokia and Samsung have a lead over Apple in smartphone sales, things look good indeed for Apple in China.

When I was a kid it was always an adventure to go visit our grandparent's house. The seemed to collect everything. A few things I will never forget though; the bowl of matches on the coffee table, and the large shoebox filled with coupons. They used coupons for everything. I think their whole shopping experience revolved around what coupons they had and where they could save money. Over the years I'm sure they spent more on gas than they saved by driving to four different places to get the shopping done.

I hate coupons. I hate flyers. And I hate carrying extra pieces of paper in my pocket. I NEVER carry any coupons with me. One App I do like is the Groupon app (free of course). Essentially you type in your city, or let it do so automatically, and check out the deals around you. If you are going to a place that has an offer, just buy the coupon (groupon) as you would online, and you save on your purchase.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Apparently some game developers (those lucky few) have been given an iPhone 4 equipped with the A5 chip. This is the same chip that has done wonders for the iPad2, making it quite a bit faster than the original iPad. These iPhone 4 looking devices are likely to be iPhone 5 prototypes.

The latest rumors put the iPhone 5 in an Apple store near you sometime around September. I also heard a rumor that the prototype is being referred to as the iPhone 4S, though with the massive power enhancement I think it will get it's own number... 5!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Whether you celebrate Easter or not, take advantage of the big sale Electronic Arts is having on iOS games. EA has plenty of great iPhone, iPad touch and iPad games for sale at just $0.99.

Some of these are hugely discounted so instead of buying a quad-shot double-half decaf, extra hot foam-free soy latte, why not pick up a few of EA's games. Again, they cost just 99 cents. Even your grandmother would approve!!!

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Apple's quarterly profit almost doubled (up 95%) from last year's quarter, thanks in part to strong sales of the iPhone and other products, which weren't slowed by the earthquake in Japan. The almost $6 Billion profit, yes that's a 6 with 9 zeros after it, was the result of an 83% increase in revenues.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

I've written before about some great games made by Big Fat Simulations such as the very popular Airport Madness series for the computer and the iPhone & iPad. They've also made Sky Madness, Air Traffic Controller (ATC) and Will it Fly? Well now Big Fat has just launched a totally new game called Radar Chaos.

A simple control interface makes the game easy for any novice player!

Radar Chaos looks to have taken the realism from some of their original games, such as ATC and Simulator, added some excitement and wow factor they created in Airport Madness, and blended them all together in this latest product. Radar Chaos is the most expensive product listed on Big Fat Simulation's website, but at $14.99 it is still a bargain compared to many other ATC type games that don't compare in quality and realism.

The game displays an Airline Satisfaction scale, a player progress status, and assigns a monetary value to how well they play!

The "Mountains" level is one of the most challenging!

There are 10 different levels available in Radar Chaos starting with four maze scenarios, then progressing to six advanced levels with enough uniqueness to keep a player entertained for a long time.

Here is a screenshot of the "Islands" level with six airports amidst volcanic mountains!

Radar Chaos is a fun and realistic radar-based air traffic control game and simulation. The player gets to control 400 square miles of airspace that surrounds each airport. Choose from easy to realistic settings and also whether you want to have emergencies or bad weather that includes lightning storms.

Probably one of the best aviation game packages available. Big Fat Simulations even has instructional videos describing how to play each level, although it's quite easy to pick up the basics. Radar Chaos seriously KICKS BUTT!!!

There is a cool new function in Google's Gmail Webapp for the iPhone and Android smartphones. Basically it's an undo function, like you might use on your computer with Word. It allows you to undo certain actions such as deletes, labels, archiving, moving messages etc...

The undo function, which will display for a few seconds, saves going into the deleted files, or wherever appropriate, and going through all the actions associated with correcting a mistake. It's a simple little function, but for people like me a true time saver!

After three years and three different variations of iPhones, I actually damaged one. I dropped it on the road and it cracked the screen - OUCH! I can still see whats underneath but it doesn't look pretty.

To be honest, it's not the first time I've dropped it. Many times I've expected to see damage only to be pleasantly surprised by the iPhone's sturdiness, which I might add feels much stronger than some of the other smartphones out there. But this time, the surprise resulted in a knot in my stomach as I realized it truly was cracked, and badly.

Thankfully mine wasn't this bad!!!

The funny thing was I wanted to post a picture here, so I took a quick screenshot that I could post later showing the damage. I guess I was still a bit shocked by the damage because I had forgotten that the screenshot would only show what's under the glass, not the actual image as I saw it looking at the iPhone.

It remineded me of a story from a long time ago when I met a girl on a boat when I was a teenager. We were looking over the railing having a great conversation until she questioned how high up the side of the boat the water would get during a really high tide. duh.....

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Happy 50th Birthday to April 12th, 1961. This might sound like an obscure date, unless it happens to be your 50th Birthday today, but that date, 50 years ago does represent something.

It was on that date that Yuri Gagarin, became the first human in space. This was accomplished without computers like we have today. There were no cell phones back then. Televisions were popping up in most homes but certainly didn't have PVR or recording abilities and most of them were still black&white. Back then when you rolled up the window in a car, you actually cranked a handle instead of pushing a button, hence the "roll" part.

It made me think how far we (humans) have come in that time and how quickly we change things still. Companies are designing, building and selling new electronic devices at record speeds. Just take a look at how many smart phones are available now and all the new designs coming out to compete with Apple's newest iPad. The iPhone 4 can do backflips around the Vostok 1 and it certainly doesn't weight over 5 tons - but the iPhone can't go to space!

April 12th, 1961. A day that really did change the world. A day when an apple was just an apple!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Type in Tiger Woods in the app store and you get a huge number of iPhone apps all related to golf. There's even an Tiger Woods trivia app, unofficial of course, but at least it's free. Electronic Arts has released the Tiger Woods PGA Tour for $4.99 that is probably one of the best golf game apps I've seen yet. You get to play alongside Tiger and you can compare how you've done against your Facebook friends. This brings the whole social networking aspect into the game also.

The game is also available on the iPad. With EA making the game, and Tiger's name on it, it's sure to be a long drive!

Now if they made a Tiger Woods - How To Get Women app, they could sell that for $499.99.

"American's give 110%. Europeans understand basic math!" I heard that somewhere once and found it funny. Funnier still because there's much truth there too! Americans tend to give things everything they've got. And Europeans seem to stick to fact with exacting measurements. I guess thats why I like them both, for different reasons.

So I was recharging my iPhone the other day, like I do every day, and I forgot I left it charing overnight. The next day, surprise, surprise, it read 100% charged. I plugged the iPhone into the Auxiliary port in the car and played some tunes for about 30 minutes on my drive to work, read a few emails and even made a phone call. When I got to work the iPhone battery display still showed 100%. So it got me wondering how they measure this, and is 100% truly fully charged or can we charge it beyond this point, where it doesn't show anything above 100%. Maybe it should show 110%, Apple being an American company after all - ha ha.

I've also noticed that at the lower range, below 50%, the battery percentage drops more quickly than in the higher range. I'll do some digging around for more info but its' got me thinking that maybe that little % number doesn't really mean much at all. I might just go back to the basic power display green bar.

Friday, April 8, 2011

What the hell??? My last blog post (Wednesday) was about how far I've come in trusting my iPhone and using it as my morning alarm. I even joked about my old Timex watch. Well the next day, yesterday, my watch stopped. IT JUST STOPPED! I've had it not even two years and the damn thing stopped working at exactly 11:16 yesterday morning. I wasn't doing anything crazy at 11:16. In fact, I was proof-reading a report. Nothing that would stop a watch.

I spent the rest of the day pulling out my iPhone to check the time, and I've been doing the same today. What surprised me is how many other people do the same thing. Fewer and fewer people are wearing watches and are looking at their mobile devices to check the time. While my watch is in "the shop," I'll be one of those people in the Starbucks line pulling out my iPhone to check how much longer I have on my break. I wonder what the added risk is that I'll drop it now that I'm pulling it out many more times a day?My watch (a Tissot) is probably worth as much as the iPhone, and although it looks fancy, I can't do nearly what my iPhone can. It got my wondering why I even have it. It doesn't even have an alarm. It just looks good. Maybe I should get the new iPod, put it on a wrist strap and wear that as my watch - it can definitely do more!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I trust my iPhone more than I ever imagined I would. Being slightly OCD, I have often had more than one alarm set to get up in the morning. Starting from my late teens I always had a plugged-in clock radio next to my bed, AND a battery operated small portable clock. Soon the portable clock gave way to the multi-programmable Timex watch (remember the one that was harder to program than a VCR).

It was after a year of owning an iPhone that I actually started using the alarm feature. It took me another couple months to realize I could set multiple alarms - great for those people that have varying wake-up times during the week. Simply select the time(s) that apply for the next day and you're all set to wake up properly.

Times (no pun intended) have changed and maybe I'm just not as paranoid, or maybe I just don't give a damn anymore, but I'm down to using my iPhone as my sole source for waking up. Without the alarm I'd sleep until 10AM, so I really am putting a huge amount of trust in my iPhone.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Have you taken a nap at work when you are suppose to be working on something? Getting in a quick nap half-way through the day can help recharge the human batteries and make for a more productive afternoon. For those who need a quick head-on-the-desk break, you are in luck. iNap@Work is a goofy little app made for the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad that makes office-type noises, to make it sound like you are working when really you are out in sleepville for a short time.

George Constanza would be proud of you as you sleep away and your co-workers would hear office sounds coming from your cubicle and wish they could be as productive as you are. You can select noises such as keyboard typing, mouse clicks, pencil sharpener, stapler, writing and paper shuffling. There are even human noises with sniffling and throat clearing. You can also adjust the frequency of the noises to make it sound like you are more or less busy. Most importantly, there is also a built in alarm clock - so you can wake up in time to go home!

So go ahead and buy this app for just $0.99, set the alarm, choose the noises you want, and take a nap under your desk like George did. Just don't blame me if you get fired!

Monday, April 4, 2011

We all want to be winners in life, and sometimes we are. It often just depends how you measure a win. Some might measure their success (or winningness) by the cars they drive, clothes they wear and size of their paycheck. Others will consider family, friends and happiness as winning traits.

This might border on absurd, but there is an iPhone app that is all about winning. You can tag any of your photos with #Winning and you can email share on Facebook or email to some losers! Hey, there's an idea for an app... Losers!!!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

OK, this made me laugh. I'm not much into reading the tabloids about what famous people are doing to get themselves into trouble, sorry Charlie Sheen, or who is dating who! The last thing I need is a tabloid app on my iPhone. None of this interstes me.

I did, however, find an iPhone and iPad application that is all about Will and Kate and the Royal Love Story. It apparently has ten chapters of picture galleries and video, taking us back to Will's early years and all the way to today... or the BIG day, which is Friday, April 29th at Westminster Abbey, for those that didn't get an invite! There is even a chapter devoted to his mother Diana - the reason for which I will probably part with $1.99 to buy the iPhone app called Mirror W&K.

For those who love everything Royal, this app might be just right for you.